There is a 4th one too.

Retirement plans

There is something therapeutic with seeing the sun set on a lake.

Seared Tuna and Avocado

 This is as asian as it gets. Sesame crusted (rare) tuna with a dab of avocado on top

Think my cups are too small for the leaf to get bigger.

Espresso Developments

My silvia was malfunctioning near the end of last year because the brew temperature was too high. I installed a PID to see the brew temperature and control it to some degree. I have quite a few cuts and burns because of my inexperience with electrical components. But all-in-all a fun project; and great espresso once again. And great latte art soon, hopefully.

Chicken with Red Peppers

It's been a long while since I've cooked a university-style 15 minute meal with minimum cleaning. For first time chefs, this really is as non-fussy as it gets. Drop the peppers and the chicken in olive oil (one pan is fine!) and coat with as many spices as you have. Garlic and lemon are as always, good but not necessary. Cook until the the pink in the chicken disappears.

Toronto to Kingston: The Final Post

The idea to bike to Kingston was born out of punctuated equilibrium. With extenuating circumstances comes crazy ideas; this was one of them. The idea was to accomplish something I'd be proud of - something that hasn't happened for five months (March 28). 

The exact kilometres biked are unknown; blame the thief who stole my speedometer, sporting life for not having wired ones and my frugality for not wanting to pay more for a wireless one with no-value-added. But somewhere between 325km and 350km is a good estimate. The toughest part of the trip was getting out of bowmanville. The food, the weather, and the pain were all very discouraging. But I soon found a good rhythm and my legs stopped hurting as much. Everything after Port Hope (the most beautiful city on the trip) was smooth sailing. The weather cleared up and the countryside was comforting. 

After arriving in Kingston today, I did feel mildly satisfied. Hopefully, the feeling will last for a while. Happiness is built on doing things properly, striving for excellence, and always, doing things you're proud of. It's about doing the right thing. I'll try to keep that in mind in the future. 

Day 4 End: 350km

The ride ended up being more front-end-loaded than expected. The last 60km came without a struggle, mostly on well paved roads and a lot of downhill. I ended up arriving in Kingston just before 2pm, keeping the 20km/hr through most of the trip. With the only cities on today's run being Bath and Amherstview, I arrived in Kingston with a hungry stomach, and headed for Harper's. 

I'll do one more summary post about the bike ride.

Day 4: Kingston

Outskirts

35km to go

Glenora Ferry

Can't do a triathlon. Have to take the ferry. Back on the mainland in a couple minutes.

Day 4: the finish line

It's been a wonderful three days, with many highlight and the weather on my side. I was happy to wake up today to find the TSX closed...forgot it was a Saturday. No more pain this week, fortunately.

I'm set for the final 67km, with a small ferry ride in the middle. There are few luxuries along the way, so it might actually be a "sprint" as I yearn to see civilization again.

Sent from my iPhone

Final Night: Picton, Prince Edward County

This vacation of sorts comes down to an evening's stroll in downtown Picton. Toronto Life had recommended a restaurant "Harvest" a couple hundred metres off the strip, up and over a hill that I thought I'd check out. I lugged myself over, looking like a cripple in every way, when the restaurant had a "for sale" sign in the front. Another suggestion by Toronto Life, "Bean Counter Café" was worth a look especially since it furthered my anti-CMA agenda. The ice latte tasted like McDonalds. 0/2 Toronto Life! The coffee shop up the street, "Miss Lilly," was much better. It even poured a latte art not unlike my own banner.

Pending my "Harvest" disappointment, the next best thing was "Portabella." I do love portabello! I finally ordered the long-overdue Prince Edward County wine. It was good, says someone who could count the wines he's had with his fingers. The chicken was good too.

The food on this trip was in general satisfying, but nothing to rival even the common selections of Toronto (or Kingston, for that matter). In fact the closing down of Picton's best restaurants ("Harvest" and "Pinch") show very little demand for fine dining in wine country (how weird).

End Day 3: Picton - 275km

Ended today at around 2:30pm, which translates to a good 20km/hr. A relatively short ride, but a well needed break before tomorrow's sprint to Kingston. Prince Edward County is very scenic as promised, though drivers aren't as friendly to bikers here for some reason. Picton should hold some surprises in store as I have the rest of the day to wander. For those interested, my trip more or less follows the waterfront trail, which takes some detours to explore Lake Ontario and the neighbouring ports. Of course, while there are times when I just say "fuck it" I'm not going on dirt paths to see polluted water I do recommend this trail.

There's a nice site that has some commentary, though I haven't read it, that pretty much sums up my own trip (http://www.hedney.com/waterfront.htm). And there are these little waterfront trail stickers plastered around lakeshore rd. and whatnot to direct you

Edwardian House B&B in Picton

Another wonderful B&B. The landlord gave it to me for $100 (instead of the usual $150)  after announcing that I was a Queen's commerce student. The room is much more pleasant than the previous place, and the washroom is all mine! Both were great though, of course.

Slickers Icecream, bloomfield

Stocks hammered, legs burning. But at least there's good ice cream. Heard a lot of good things about this place. They're in Kingston too apparently.

East and Main Bistro, Wellington, PEC

Funny how packed this restaurant is in a city of 1600 people. It is apparently the best in the area. I felt bad for getting beer instead of wine in wine country but how can you blame a biker? The fish and chips are not the usual. But they have character.

Day 3: Brighton to picton

Wonderful B&B. Great homemade breakfast. Lunch in Wellington. The 40km bike until then will be the most tedious part of the day. Legs are oh so sore!

End Day 2: Brighton. 200km done.

The day began drearily, perhaps because of the breakfast. I was sore all over and the weather did not agree (although I hear it's much better than the weather in Toronto). I had to go on many dirt paths and lakeshore rd. is very poorly paved. I felt discouraged, thinking only of what I'd have to through in the next several days. However, Port Hope lightened my mood. Perhaps the protein from the clif bars kicked in (or maybe the alcohol from the Warsteiner I had at lunch did :P) but either way, the afternoon went effortlessly. I'm more than halfway there at Brighton. The road sign shows only a hundred or so kilometres, which really could be finished in a day should I go through belleville. But Prince Edward County is really the highlight of this trip as I look forward to a light (60km) day of wineries, ice-cream and the quaint pleasures of picton.  If that proves too light a day, I might continue back to the mainland and lighten my final day to Kingston. 

The Bed and Breakfast I'm staying at is wonderful. My plan was to stay at B&B's as they are usually better and more value at the same time. And no horrific machine-pumped-pancakes for breakfast.

Overall, a much better day than the first.

(sorry, my "Google Latitude" app closed down midway)

"The Gables" (Brighton's hidden gem)

This family-run house-turned-restaurant has been the culinary highlight of this trip so far. Having be so disappointed yesterday with lunch/dinner and the Holiday Inn breakfast (so much so with my steak in Bowmanville that I didn't dare post my dinner photos!) I was in for a pleasant awakening in Brighton. This restaurant was top-rated on both trip advisor and restaurantica, so I had to give it a shot. First impression was the similarity to Toronto's own Auberge du Pommier. In all fairness, what I ate was not very difficult to cook: the trout was well-seasoned, the veges were properly blanched, and the strudel gave away the family's heritage. This is as good as it gets out here. But tomorrow is wine-country. I'm sure "The Gables" will be outdone. (Oh, and the service was impeccable.)

Colborne DOG chases bike into ditch

No pictures though...but the dog was black.

Colbourne chases bike into ditch

No pictures...it was a black dog though.

Oh so damn far to go

CF office in the middle of nowhere

Guess cobourg needs their wealth management too. Btw at $10 CF looks pretty good.

Port hope cookies

Dreamers café has cookies as it's core competency. The other stuff is to fuel the afternoon bike ride I guess.

Zest bar and bistro

First decent food of the trip. Time for dessert.

Day 2: Into the Countryside

Definitely out of the GTA now. No more red busses. A lot of yesterday's scenery was depressing. Oshawa in particular is reminiscent of hamilton. But today's ride is ever so scenic. Unfortunately, many of the roads are either unpaved or haven't been paved for a very long time. Port Hope is everything it is cracked up to be. It's like a smaller Kingston.

Port Hope

Moving very slowly; the roads are terrible. Port Hope is beautiful but the actual port isn't for another 10km.

Bowmanville

No B&B's were to be found so had to stay at the holiday Inn, one of two 'hotels' in the city. At least I got via points. The breakfast was sad, as expected. And my legs are burning from yesterday.